Kasimir Tyabji-Sandana’s drug trial put off to April

THE drug trial of Kasimir Tyabji-Sandana, 29, of Calgary has now been put off to next April.

Tyabji-Sandana, the son of former MLA Judi Tyabji who married former B.C. Leader of the Opposition Gordon Wilson, remains out on bail.

He was arrested and charged with one count of importing a controlled substance after a drug bust in Calgary in 2015.

Calgary Police said in a press release on July 14, 2015, that a Border Services Officer at the Canadian Border Services Agency’s Vancouver International Mail Centre intercepted a parcel declared as a “muffler” that was destined for a Calgary resident. As the officer was conducting an examination of the parcel, an unknown white powder was found and the officer suspected it to be fentanyl.

The officer sent a sample of the unknown substance to the CBSA Laboratory, which confirmed her suspicion and CBSA engaged the support of the RCMP to further the investigation. The RCMP then began working with Calgary Police Service and on July 22, a warrant was executed on a Calgary residence in the 2400 block of 14 Street S.W., resulting in one arrest. Through the investigation, 122 grams of fentanyl was seized with an estimated value of $348,000.

Kasimir’s mother, Judi, described his arrest in detail on Facebook, but believes that her son was set up. Incidentally, she is the author of former premier Christy Clark’s biography. His stepfather, Wilson, was Clark’s LNG commissioner. His stepbrother, Mathew Wilson, was the Liberal candidate in Powell River-Sunshine Coast who lost to incumbent NDP MLA Nicholas Simons this year.